Weekend activities of the non-Christmas shopping variety

CHRISTMAS!: Now that we've dispatched Halloween, there's nothing standing between here and Christmas but a gaggle of free-range tofurkeys and a can of cranberry sauce.

Responsible readers will start their holiday shopping this weekend, just to get it out of the way. Reckless readers, on the other hand, will dodge the issue and escape into one of the following diversions.

COMICON!: Long Beach's own Horror & Comic Con(vention), unlike the world-famous San Diego Comic-Con, is more hard-core and old-school, cleaving more to the integrity and principles that our founding fathers had in mind when they invented comic-cons. No unveiling of the new cast of "Glee" at this one. It's about comics; it's about horror; it's about costumes.

This year's con comes Saturday and Sunday to the Long Beach Convention Center, bringing hundreds of artists, from George Acevedo to Zen, to its vaunted Artists Alley. It's a gathering of fans, peddlers, celebrities, screenings, panels, artists, writers and actors turning the convention center into a weird, horrifying and comical scene.

There's too much to even capsulize in this expensive and limited space, so head to www.longbeachcomiccon.com for the entire slate.

Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m Sunday. Admission is $25 on Saturday; $20 on Sunday. Rather pointlessly, a weekend pass is $45. Kids 10 and under get in free with a paying adult; limit is two kids per adult, because, yes, this is China.

HOMEGROWN: A couple of years ago when we wrote about the Indoor Gardening & Hydrolife Expo, we got a lot of heat from readers for managing to write an entire item on the subject without mentioning marijuana.

Why would we write about marijuana? The Indoor Gardening people use tomatoes as their symbol of what an indoor cropper is likely to grow. You can't tell by driving around town, but you have no idea how many people have equipped the crawl spaces and spare bedrooms in their homes with grow-lights and hydroponic systems with which they grow delicious and potent tomatoes.

If you're the type of person interested in growing tomatoes and other delightful vegetables and plants indoors, the show is open to industry pros only on Saturday, and the public on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at the Long Beach Convention Center. For all the info, and to score a free ticket (A VIP one at that!) go to www.indoorgardeningexpo.com.

ANOTHER FIRST FRIDAY: The monthly (though it seems weekly, is how fast time goes by) funfest in uptown Long Beach, First Friday in Bixby Knolls, turns 6 years old with tonight's celebration from 6:30 to 10-ish on Atlantic Avenue between Bixby Road and San Antonio Drive.

Virtually every business along the stretch of road does something to celebrate the day. People who are already missing Halloween can drag the celebration out with tonight's Day of the Dead theme.

Some highlights this time: Day of the Dead arts & crafts at Paper Crew, 3920 Atlantic Ave.; the Norwalk Youth Mariachi with a side of churros at Oh Very Young, 4378 Atlantic Ave.; a Jimi Hendrix sing-along at 7:30 p.m. at Jammin' Music & Arts, 4228 Atlantic Ave.; a Red Cross Youth disaster safety puppet show at First Bank, 4040 Atlantic Ave.; and mariachi and Day of the Dead altar at BKBIA Office, 4313 Atlantic Ave.

FRIDAY PLAYLIST: Comic-Conners know that those who can leap tall buildings in a single bound do, while those who can't, listen to songs about it. These are those songs about the superheroes.